[3] Thirty minutes into the flight, the 19-seat Twin Otter was attempting to divert to Bhairahawa Airport because of the weather conditions, resulting in radio contact being lost.

When the rescue and recovery teams eventually reached the crash site, they found the bodies of all eighteen on board spread over the hill.

The aircraft, a DHC-6 Twin Otter (Registration: 9N-ABB), which was delivered to Nepal Airlines in 1971,[8] was involved in two incidents before: On 10th June 1973 on a flight from Biratnagar to Kathmandu, the aircraft was taken over by three hijackers of Nepali Congress party who demanded money and escaped after landing in Bihar, India.

[9] On 5th July 1992, the aircraft lost directional control on takeoff from Jumla on a flight to Surkhet.

[9] According to Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal official Ram Hari Sharma, everybody on board, except for one Danish passenger, were Nepalese, including a child.